


The Amateur's Guide to the Afterlife

by earth_or_bust



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Conductor Neku, Gen, Joshua is Not a Teen, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-01-21 03:24:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12448671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earth_or_bust/pseuds/earth_or_bust
Summary: In which the Long Game has its consequences, and the world keeps turning.





	1. Chapter 1

When he got the message, Neku had almost thrown his phone out of the window.

 

[5:00. You know where to find me.]

 

He didn’t. Honestly, just from the message, from an unknown number because _ of course it was. _ Neku couldn’t even know for sure  _ who _ he was finding, much less where. And that… told him exactly what he needed to know. Neku ran a hand through his hair and scowled. Obnoxious.

 

“Senpai, is something wrong?” It seemed that Shuto had been waiting outside of the second-year’s classroom. Again. Upon coming back to school, Neku had been… surprised by the boy’s presence. He hadn’t really cared to notice any of his schoolmates before, but he couldn’t help but recognize a face from the long game.

 

“...” Neku turned a blank look towards his junior. He couldn’t help wishing that he had been going to school with… anyone else. Hell, even Eri. Although nobody from the RG had seemed to remember anything from the long Game, Shuto Dan had immediately honed in on Neku as his ‘rival’ once again, and was constantly pestering him for Tin Pin matches. 

 

When he told the others about it, Shiki had grinned, looking away, while Beat had outright laughed. “Sucks to be you!” Rhyme had tilted her head, looking at him thoughtfully.

 

“You  _ do  _ seem to fit the rival stereotype for the shows he likes to imitate.” She counted on her fingers. “Icy personality. Eccentric taste of clothing. Spiky hair…” She wiggled her shoulders. “You’ve even got the angsty slouch!” She put a hand to her face, staring him down as he cringed.

 

“Are you an otaku too, Neku?” 

 

He had tried to ignore the money changing hands, mostly towards Rhyme, as he showed up to their next Friday meetup with a haircut, still spiky but much shorter, and a new outfit. Ignoring the heat, he had opted for a simple blue hoodie and jeans. He mentally dared Shuto to mistake him for an anime antagonist now.

 

Not… that Shuto would really know the difference, what with school uniforms and all. He looked up. Shuto was still staring at him, concerned. Neku sighed, giving him a small shrug.

 

“It’s really nothing.” Well… he could probably use this to get out of what had become his daily match with the kid. “I just found out that I have to rush down to Central Shibuya to catch someone today.”

 

Shuto crossed his arms, nodding sagely, before closing his eyes and reaching up to place a hand on his shoulder. Neku cringed.

 

“Your training has really paid off. I know you’ll win.” Shuto’s eyes snapped open as he jerked a thumb towards himself. “As your rival, I’m the only one who’s allowed to beat you, after all.”

 

“It’s not a Tin Pin match!” Stiffly, Neku stood up from his desk, brushing past Shuto, who had tilted his head in confusion, unable to comprehend what else someone would  _ do  _ in the city. 

 

He tried not to let his smile show as he left the room.

 

* * *

 

  
  


As he left the train station, making his way to the Scramble, Neku found himself at a loss as to where to go at first. If the sender really had been Josh, the meeting place was sure to be somewhere sure to piss Neku off, namely one of the places that Josh had shot him. But then again... maybe Joshua had heard one of Neku’s invitations and decided on Hachiko as a meeting place, or even WildKat, on the off chance that Mr. H. had sent the message…

 

Neku didn’t have to ponder the subject long, as a redhead with a lollipop approached him, raising a hand in greeting. 

 

“Oy.” The Reaper raised his chin, scrutinizing. “Huh… You look a lot younger without the whole,” he waved a hand around his face “‘angsty teen starter package’ thing you had going.”

 

Neku glared at him, sticking his hands into his pockets. Kariya’s wings were put away, which meant that he was probably in the RG right now. After the game, Neku had gone as blind to the UG as everyone else, but gradually… that had changed. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Three weeks later, and there really wasn’t anything left for him to tell the levels of reality apart with. They looked and felt the same. Only a sense of dread had kept him from trying out his psychs so far.

 

A few seconds went by without either saying anything before Kariya rolled a shoulder, sighing. “So stiff…” He turned around, waving a hand in the air. “Follow me, then.” He moved ahead, and Neku had to trot after him to keep up, trying to keep sight of him, or at least his hair, in the crowd. 

 

There was no time to ask questions as they approached the sewer entrance. Without a word, the Reaper climbed in, and surprisingly gave Neku a hand on the way down. Neku grunted his thanks.

 

Feeling numb, Neku followed after him, letting him unlock the walls unbothered. After Joshua had ignored his invitations and the UG had slipped out of sight, albeit temporarily, Neku had thought that was it. Josh was done with him. Now it appeared that that wasn’t the case.

 

He turned to the older… teen? Adult? He wasn’t even going to try guessing. He had no idea how reapers worked.

 

“Died in my early 20’s, about…” Kariya looked at Neku. “15, maybe 16 years ago.” Ignoring the startled glare Neku gave him, he continued. “Not to brag or anything, but I’ve lasted longer than any of the other reapers here… Possibly excluding the Composer.” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

 

He smirked. “‘Lot of that’s thanks to you.”

 

Neku frowned. Was he being thanked for saving the Reaper’s life… or for getting rid of his seniors? Knowing what he did about Pinky and Lollipop, it was probably a bit of both. He let out a short breath through his nose, deciding to at least try being civil.

 

“How’s Pinky doing?”

 

He shrugged, noncommittally “As feisty as ever. She’s been GM for the last two weeks, what with the repeat Games…” Neku frowned. When they came back to life, it had been a few weeks in the past… It looked like the Game had gone back too. “No interesting challengers since, you know, you guys weren’t playing this time, but I’ll probably have to start looking for a new partner-in-crime if she keeps it up.” He almost sounded concerned.

 

“Just like that?”

 

Kariya shrugged. “Officers are erasure-bait. So, if she makes it up there, and loses her head like she always does when dealing with players…” He sighed. “Yeah. Just like that.”

 

He was being surprisingly...open about all of this. Neku looked at him. “So...do you know what this is about?” 

 

The redhead looked down at his phone. “Yup.” 

 

Neku scowled, and the expression intensified as the man rubbed his head. “Hey!” He swatted the laughing Reaper’s hand away. 

 

“And… here’s the Pad.” Kariya waved a hand. “You know where to go from here.”

 

“It’s… different.” Aside from the couches, the entire room had… gone blank. 

 

The reaper sighed, rubbing a hand in his hair. “Well… I suppose that’s what happens when you erase the Conductor.” He shrugged. “Weird shit happens when the important ones get offed.”

 

Neku froze at the reminder, heart jumping in a distinctly unpleasant way. He and the others had had to erase… a lot of Reapers, especially once the Red Pins were activated. And now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen any graffiti on the walk down…

 

Kariya leaned back, hands behind his head. “That’s just the way of things though. This ‘life’ after death thing’s just a stopping point.”

 

That one threw Neku for a loop. “Before what?” 

 

Kariya just shrugged. “Dunno.” He pointed to the wall. “But you probably shouldn’t keep the Composer waiting.” 

 

With that, his wings extended and he disappeared. Neku stared at the space, before sighing and slumping over, looking small within his hoodie.

 

Here he was again… His player pins were long gone, but somehow, he began scanning the room, before trudging through the invisible door.

 

* * *

 

 

“Well.” The man in white looked at him. “It took you long enough.”

 

“I’m ten minutes early.” Neku said, dryly, trying to avoid looking around for bloodstains. Couldn’t the guy just say ‘hello’ like a normal person.

 

“Hm…” The man waved noncommittally before stepping… floating down from the concrete throne. Neku winced, feeling the beginnings of a headache, which receded as Joshua shifted into someone smaller, revealing the teenage face Neku had gotten to know.

 

“You’re still pretty sensitive to the higher frequencies.” He noted, evaluating. “We’ll have to work on that.”

 

“Josh. What the fuck?” Neku said tiredly. Neku was almost surprised when he didn’t giggle. Then again, how much of the Joshua he had known was an act? He really couldn’t know, or even begin pretending to understand the boy… man… whatever he was, much less predict him. 

 

“The timeline’s about caught up.” Joshua’s voice snapped Neku out of his thoughts, preventing him from brooding. “You’ll have to assume your duties starting with next week’s Game.”

 

Neku reeled back, looking up at Joshua in shock. What? “I thought I was out… You know, ‘win the Game, come back to life.’”

 

“You lost.”

 

“Well excuse me for not fucking shooting you, Josh.” He snapped.

 

“You’re excused.” Half of a smile crept up the blonde’s face. “Luckily, the prize of that game was deciding what happened to Shibuya, which, if I may remind you, you and your friends are a part of.”

 

Neku scowled, staring at the ground. He wouldn’t have even been dead to play the Game in the first place if it hadn’t been for Josh. Why did the UG keep dragging him in? Sure, it had made life seem worth living again, but couldn’t it just do that and let him  _ live  _ it afterwards? 

 

Neku sighed, taking the angry, frantic thoughts that had sprung up and shoving them roughly to the side. His friends were out. Whatever was going on, he could deal. Considering it was Josh that he was dealing with, he’d have to.

 

“Well, well.” Joshua was smiling. Well, smirking. Neku honestly was beginning to think that he just  _ couldn’t  _ smile. “You look a lot younger without the,” he giggled “‘anime antagonist’ get-up, but you’ve really matured, haven’t you?” 

 

Neku looked away. He’d at least try to understand the situation before exploding. “What duties?” Joshua frowned, crossing his arms.

 

“I really did try to negotiate it with the higher-ups. Give you some time to, well... live. Most of what can be done for the city can be done from the RG, after all...” He sighed. “But the UG’s in a wild state, and our Producer…” Joshua looked away, waving a hand. “We probably won’t be seeing him again for a while. If ever.” The Composer sounded… almost apologetic.

 

“Joshua, what’s going on?” If he was feeling uneasy before, Neku was pretty close to panic now. He hadn’t missed the implications of Joshua’s words.

 

“Don’t worry, I plan on filling you in this time. All of that vagueness and obstruction is traditionally  for Players, you know? To keep them growing.” He put a hand to his chin. “Actually, while I’m filling you in. You probably should worry…” he trailed off.

 

“Josh.”

 

He raised a finger. “Ah! Don’t interrupt!” He crossed his arms… “Now… where to start…?”

 

“The beginning?” Neku asked, voice flat.

 

“Hm… It’s a little overdone, but I suppose it’ll do.” 

 

That’s how Neku found himself sitting on the ground that he had died on, chatting with the person who killed him. A couple of months ago, he would have found it bizarre, and frankly, he was still freaked out, but this kind of thing was just becoming par-for-the-course lately.

 

Joshua smirked, “I’d like to preface this little tale by saying that I did nothing wrong.”

 

Doubtful. Neku stared at him, until he sighed, continuing.

 

“Really!” He huffed. “I can see the future you know… as far as it would write itself without UG influence. You would have just killed yourself a couple years from then anyways.” Joshua frowned. “Well, assuming that Kitanjii wouldn’t have erased me and run Shibuya into the ground, that is…Or that I wouldn’t have ended the city myself...” He trailed off, before shaking his head. “Either way, the timelines where you don’t meet me or play the Game… You end it yourself.” 

 

Neku straightened up, staring at him in shock. “Really?” He said in a small voice. He couldn’t help but ask, even though, somehow he knew it was true.

 

“Mmhmm.” Joshua looked down at his phone. “For now, the less that I say about the way things can go, or would have gone, the better.” He shot Neku a smug grin. “You’ll just need to trust me.”

 

Neku frowned and nodded, finding it scarily easy to. 

 

“So, anyways… during our Game, you erased the Conductor. So, by rights, you’re the Conductor of Shibuya now.”

 

“But… I’m alive.” Neku’s heart started pounding in his chest, reminding him of the fact. (Although, it had done the same in the UG, hadn’t it?) But he wasn’t even a Reaper, much less one of their leaders.

 

Dismissively, Joshua waved a hand. “We  _ will _ have to fix that…” With half a smile, he looked Neku in the eyes and shrugged. “Later. I’ve got a time limit, but that means you have time. A human’s never erased a Conductor or Composer before, so you’re a special case.” 

 

“You’re kidding.” Nobody. Beat’s plan had been  _ that _ hopeless?

 

The Composer shrugged, extending his hands. “Reaper’s Games are by nature unwinnable. You can’t beat death, after all... They mostly help people pass on, or become fit for reincarnation.” He covered his chin. “It’s very rare that someone gets to pick up their life back where they left off. The only reason that you and your friends were revived was because we were playing for Shibuya itself. There was enough fate attached to that Game to completely reset the RG, to a point. So I did.”

 

“So… what now?” God, Joshua  _ was  _ going to kill him again. Why was he just sitting here?

 

Joshua stood up, glowing again and growing tall. Neku followed suit, feeling a pressure build behind his eyes, but not the stabbing pain from earlier. “For now… Consider this your after-school job. You don’t have a family to worry about, at least, so we’ll have the group home you’ve been staying in conveniently… forget you and you’ll spend the rest of your time within Shibuya’s borders.”

 

“As for your school, it’s technically in our borders. Don’t go into your third year worrying about college, though. It won’t happen.” At the words, the heavy feeling in Neku’s gut sank further. “Don’t leave Shibuya either. You’re alive, but you’re irrevocably tied to Shibuya’s UG, and you’re powerful to boot. It’ll just cause trouble if you show up in another territory.”

 

All of this… Neku wasn’t sure that he could take it in stride. He loved the city, but never being able to leave? And being told that he was going to die before he was done with high-school? Neku sighed. One moment at a time. He could freak out when he wasn’t in the same room as his partner-slash-murderer. 

 

“Where do I go tonight?” After two failed placements early on in middle-school, Neku had been moved to a group home on the outskirts of Ebisu. He spent most of his time in Shibuya because of his school’s location, and a distinct lack of reasons to want to be ‘home,’ but that still left him a little stranded if he couldn’t go back anymore.

 

Joshua turned around. “Check your pockets. Before he was reincarnated, Sanae made sure to leave you something.” Even though Neku couldn’t make out his face, he was sure that Joshua was smiling bitterly. “For someone who did his damned best to kill you, he really seemed to take a liking to you.”

 

Neku couldn’t help but notice that Joshua was speaking about Mr. H. in past tense. Blank walls. Neku looked down, trying not to punch something. “I have a feeling that that happens a lot.” 

 

Joshua nodded, smiling. “What really throws me is that it’s  _ so earnestly  _ reciprocated. You might have a problem. Is attempted murder a turn-on of yours?”

 

Forgetting his anger, Neku sputtered. “Wh- how? Agh!” He pointed at Joshua. “Don’t even ask that! You’re like, 20 years older than me!”

 

“I assure you, I’m much more than that.”

 

“That’s even worse!”

 

Neku scowled at the laughing man. Reaching into his pocket, Neku grasped something hard, and looked down to see a set of keys. When he looked up, he was on CAT Street, standing outside of an abandoned cafe.


	2. Chapter 2

It had never occurred to Neku just how haphazardly Wildkat had been thrown together, as caught up in his thoughts and frustrations as he had been during his visits. But now that he had the chance to actually sit down and look at it, without Noise or Reapers gunning for his head, or a timer steadily ticking down (well, at least a visible one), it was pretty clear that Mr. H. had never intended to take running a cafe seriously.

 

If the infrequent hours Mr. H. had kept weren’t a dead giveaway, Neku should have been clued in by the set-up on the inside. For the restaurant of someone who’d proclaim that beans were his passion, there was a suspicious lack of them behind the counter. Actually, the only coffee equipment in the back was a regular coffeepot, for grounds, and a suspicious looking jar of instant powder behind some pumpkin soup mix. As for the rest of it, it was like Mr. H. had just gone to get groceries one day, and selected the least ‘instant’ looking, instant foods.

 

In the back was a mess of paints and papers and odd bits of machinery and cloth that left Neku feeling strangely choked up. Mr. H. had been his hero. He had prevented Neku from erasing his partner, and by extension himself. He had kept Beat from being erased alongside Rhyme, and kept them together, even after she was made into Noise. He had turned out to be CAT, and turned out to be a friend of Joshua’s, the Composer’s, as well. And then he had turned around and helped Minamoto try to kill them with those… things.

 

Who had he been? What had he wanted? And what happened to him?

 

Josh had said that he was reincarnated… If Neku took that literally, then the Mr. H. that he had known was likely gone for good. But why?

 

Neku frowned. Whatever Josh’s intentions had been, he couldn’t sleep here. But… he might as well clean up a little. No one else was going to, after all.

 

As Neku bent down to begin, a stack of papers caught his eye.

 

_ As is common knowledge, all Games in the UG take place under Our supervision... _

 

Feeling as though he were staring down the edge of a cliff, Neku straightened the tattered, coffee-stained set of papers, and began reading.

 

* * *

  
  


_ To the Composer’s pick. Neku Sakuraba… _

_ The future you must choose is within you. I am glad to have had the chance to meet you. _

 

Pulling his sleeve over a shaking hand, Neku rubbed at his eyes.

 

There was no doubt that Hanekoma had written these papers for him. And even before they had met, too. There wouldn’t have been such an in-depth definition of the Underground and its workings, otherwise.

 

It had cleared up a great deal about what had happened during those 3 weeks, and answered questions that Neku had forgotten that he was even asking. (Though he still seemed to have an endless supply.)

 

Neku sighed. There only seemed to be one question that mattered right now: Now what? His life… was over. Maybe not yet, but everything he knew had been turned upside-down. The end was definitely in sight, and he was  _ already _ dealing with what came next, or at least he was supposed to. And what? Because he had a high-level of Imagination? Because he wanted to go see that damned CAT mural one day? (Although with what  _ other  _ disasters that had caused he shouldn’t be surprised.) Because Josh had decided to take on his Conductor, and felt that dragging Neku into the crossfire was something that the situation had called for?

 

He flopped backwards onto the floor, covering his eyes with a sleeve. Fuck it. Fuck everything. He  _ couldn’t handle this. _

 

“You don’t even know what you’re handling, dear. Save it for the morning.” An unnervingly feminine voice remarked. Neku sprung up to see Joshua, his Joshua, standing over him, face void of concern.

 

Neku snorted, flopping back down to stare up at an unamused Josh. He waved the Reports in the air. “Like I could sleep after reading these.”

 

Joshua stretched the right side of his mouth into a wry parody of a grin. “We’re not having this conversation until you’re vertical.”

 

“Fine.” Neku rolled onto his feet. “What happened to him?”

  
  


“Exactly what I said. He was reincarnated.”

 

The red-head frowned. “So after,” he waved his hand around, “all of that, he’s just continuing his life in the RG?”

 

“No.” The Composer shook his head. “Like I said, that’s pretty rare.” He raised a finger, and, in spite of the situation, Neku was struck with nostalgia, almost expecting to hear useless facts about Hachiko or the origins of Lolita clothing. “The Game’s goal is either the Ascension of Reapers, and in some rare cases, Players, to the Higher Planes, or their erasure, reducing them back down to Soul, which is the only thing that can make it through true Reincarnation.”

 

“So he was erased.”

 

“Essentially, yes.”

 

“Why?” Neku’s voice shook.

 

Joshua avoided his eyes, studying a machine in the corner of the room. “He Fell. When ‘what goes up’ comes down, it’s near impossible to get it back up again.” Joshua caught Neku’s eyes.  “Sanae made a mistake that he couldn’t come back from,” his voice hardened, “so they’re giving him a ‘fresh start.’”

 

“This is so fucked up.” He was just trying to save Shibuya from you. Us. Neku didn’t say, knowing that Joshua’d likely hear him anyways.

 

“It wasn’t his city to save. But, yeah.” Joshua looked around the room, and waved his hand towards a heavily painted cabinet. “You don’t live in Shibuya, so we couldn’t get ahold of your things, but I did keep your inventory from The Game.”

 

“So I’m going to be… living here?”

 

Joshua nodded. “While we can pull off stationing you in the RG, yes. Besides… It’s yours, you might as well use it.” He shrugged. “After all, he’s not going to.”

 

Neku frowned at Josh. What an ass. If he was a Reaper like the reports said that he was, Neku would bet that his Noise form literally took the shape of an ass’s asshole.

 

The blonde snorted. “Truly, your Imagination is being put to good use.” He shook his head. “You’ll be designing Noise soon enough, don’t worry.” 

 

“My Noise form’s a unicorn, by the way.” Of course it was. Joshua flipped his hair. “I’ve seen yours too, considering I erased you and everything.” He giggled. “It’s pretty cute.”

 

Neku looked away, face reddening against his will. Cute… That wasn’t encouraging. As little as he liked the idea of being Noise in the first place, he’d at least hope for something big and intimidating. It was a problem for another day, though.

 

As if Joshua had sensed his thoughts, he looked towards the storefront. “I’m getting distracted.” He put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “Meet me at the Pad after you’re done with school tomorrow, we’ll work out the details then.” He turned to leave.

 

Neku almost called for Joshua to stay, before reconsidering exactly  _ who _ he’d be reaching out to. He had no idea how he was going to get through a day of school after all of this, much less deal with the rest of a night alone. 

 

For the first time in weeks, Neku wished that he had his headphones to drown out the silence.

 

* * *

 

“Rough match, Senpai?” Shuto had accosted him during lunch, curious about yesterday. “You look…” The boy glanced at him, trying to pick his words carefully. “Kinda bad.”

 

Neku ran a hand over his hair, reconsidering his haircut and how much of his face it was showing. “I just didn’t sleep well. No Tin-Pin involved.”

 

“Maybe a rough match is what you need, then!” The boy grinned, and pointed to the stairwell. “Let’s duke it out on the rooftop.” The first-year had already lost 2 favorite pins to watchful teachers, and was at least  _ trying _ to be more careful now.

 

Neku looked at his lunch. Then back to Shuto. Then back to his lunch.

 

He slid the rice balls into his hoodie and raced Shuto upstairs.

 

* * *

 

They managed to make it through six matches before they had to stop, hiding under the ledge as a passerby (Shit. It was a teacher!) on the ground was hit by a Pin that Neku’s attack had launched off of the roof.

 

“No… My Ultra-Mitama!” Neku clapped a hand over the kid’s mouth. They’d be expelled for sure if they were caught up here. It hadn’t even been two years since the roof was made restricted, after a troubled student had committed suicide by jumping off.

 

“It’s Jupiter of the Monkey, right?” A favorite brand of Neku’s. “I might have one lying around somewhere. If I don’t, I’ll find a way to replace it.” The boy relaxed a little in his arms. “But for now, shut up!” Neku hissed under his breath.

They watched the teacher look around, then upwards.

 

“Oh no…” Shuto whispered. “He’s headed towards the stairs!” 

 

Neku cursed, looking around. He had gotten into this school on an opportunity (aka. ‘Let’s look good by giving those sad orphans a chance!’) scholarships… which would immediately be taken away upon any behaviour violations. Getting caught wasn’t an option. For him. 

 

Frantically, he searched for a place to hide, or somewhere for them to go...There! A fourth floor window on the next hall had been left open. They’d have to jump for it. It was about 4 feet away, but probably a couple hundred down if they missed. On second thought… He had a better idea. 

 

Neku slid off of the roof, Shuto following closely behind. He hung onto the edge, standing on the ledge of a lower window. To his surprise, the younger boy followed suit.

 

Shuto’s eyes were wide with terror. He was shaking so hard that Neku was beginning to question his ability to hold on, and muttering something under his breath.”

 

“Why did you follow me!?” Neku growled. Rumor was that Shuto’s granddad owned a major store in the Shibuya department complex, and had already made a couple of ‘contributions’ to encourage the school to keep putting up with the hyper young boy. If he got caught it was probably going to be a non-issue.

 

“It,”  _ gasp _ “seemed like the thing to do!” the boy squeaked. Idiot. Neku prayed that the kid could keep his grip.

 

“Is anybody up here?”

 

Neku held his breath, and it seemed like Shuto was at least trying to keep his hyperventilating quiet.

 

“Hm.” Neku heard scraping. “Damned kids.”

 

The boys smelled cigarette smoke, and looked to eachother in dismay.

 

* * *

 

By the time the professor, a crotchety first-year teacher that Neku remembered ignoring, had finished his smoke, Neku’s arms had nearly gone numb from effort. It took him a couple tries to pull himself back up onto the roof, and with shaky arms, help Shuto up as well.

 

“We totally almost just died.” Shuto whispered. 

 

Yeah… they were idiots. Still… Neku smiled, standing up and brushing himself off. “I think  _ almost  _ is the key word there.”

 

Shuto stared up at him, something uncomfortably like worship in his eyes. “Senpai…” Oh, shit. Was he crying?

 

“Let’s get back to class.” They’d both have to come up with a passable excuse for being late.

 

“Um. Senpai…” Shuto nodded towards his pants. His...wet pants. 

 

Neku stared at him. Well… you couldn’t blame the kid. He pulled off his hoodie, offering it to the urine-soaked boy. Another favorite shirt… Another unspeakable fate. He sighed.

 

“Use that to cover up, and get changed as soon as you can. We’ll say you got sick and I was helping you.”

 

“Thank you senpai,” Shuto bowed. “I’ll return it as soo--”

 

“Keep it.” Neku gritted his teeth. “Please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. Those were the secret reports.
> 
> Okay, I'll be honest, I'm having fun with this fic. Shooting things with a head-canon is my favorite way to waste time. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

 

Once again, Kariya met him outside of the train station. The older reaper eyed Neku’s hands and arms, scraped and freshly scabbed from holding onto and climbing up and down the school roof. He snorted. “Looks like you’ve had a day.” 

 

He started walking towards the sewers, and Neku trotted after him, making a face and falling into step. “Yeah… A Tin Pin match got a little bit...” He stopped, searching for a word and failing, settling to make another face instead.

 

Kariya frowned. “The hell kind of Tin Pin are you playing?” He shook his head as he lowered the barrier, raising it again after Neku had passed through. “Hm… You didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d be into a kiddie sentai game like that anyways.” The man smirked. “It’s almost as bad as Pokemon.”

 

“Hey!” Neku sputtered, suddenly keenly aware of his handheld sleeping at the bottom of his backpack. The hours and hours that he’d spent leveling and breeding pixelated monsters for better IV’s. The fact that he’d been keeping up with the Sentai Slammers and Pokemon cartoons since before he could even read. Helplessly the teen waved his arms a little, trying to come up with a clever defense. “F-fuck you!” 

A beat passed, the two stopping to stare at each-other in silence, before Kariya’s smile expanded, overtaking his face. The Reaper grabbed his head, as he burst into shoulder shaking laughter. Oh yeah. Scanning was still a thing.

 

Neku felt his face heating up. Sheesh. It wasn’t like he had anything to be ashamed of. Tons of people liked that stuff. Granted, most of them were annoying as fuck, or had Shuto’s level of enthusiasm. Still, he wasn’t going to stand there and be judged for how he spent his free time. The teen huffed, stiffening up and walking ahead.

 

He stiffened more as the man threw an arm around him, his outburst of laughter ending in a soft chuckle. “Hey-hey. I don’t mean anything by it. Do what you do.” The red-head grinned down at him. “I just didn’t take you for a closet otaku.”

 

Reflexively, Neku sputtered again. “Fuck off!”

 

“You’re an eloquent one, aren’t’cha?”

 

* * *

 

When Neku got to the Pad, Joshua wasn’t the only one waiting for him. At the glowing man’s side was a tiny, blonde reaper in a somewhat sickening amount of pastels.

 

Feeling a little awkward, Neku raised a hand in greeting. Dealing with Kariya was one thing, but he was going to have to be dealing with reapers on the regular now, wasn’t he? They were on the same team now, weren’t they? 

 

Knowing that he could be scanned. Neku shoved his discomfort to the side. He’d probably be letting the moral implications of trying to  _ erase people _ keep him up at night, but qualms were pretty useless right now.

 

“Ah, it’s you!” The little girl rushed over to him, grabbing his hands. “Gosh! I totally didn’t think that we’d see each-other again.” She grinned. “But here ya are!”

 

That’s right… She was that annoyingly cutesy reaper who had been dealing cheap supplies to Players. Neku frowned. “Atarashi, right?”

 

“Oh, you remember me! That’s great!” She gushed, still holding his hands. “I can already tell. We’re gonna get along like a Minamoto on a math exam!”

 

Neku coughed, looking away. Sheesh, could this kid take it down a notch?

 

“ **_Coco’s our head Harrier. As the friendliest face among us, she’s assigned to retrieve and prepare each week’s Players for the Games.”_ **

 

Neku frowned at Josh. “So why…?”

 

**_“Ah, you might not want to-”_ **

 

“Oh!” Atarashi squealed. “The Composer’s here!?” She waved her arms, voice rising to a shout. “Helllooooo!!!”

 

Neku grimaced. “Cut it out.” 

 

“ **_As Conductor, you’re the only one who can perceive me when I’m at my natural frequency. If I’m around, it’d be best not to point out my presence.”_ ** He crossed his arms, and Neku was struck by how… Joshua the Composer looked, even when he was all grown up and glowy. Said Composer chuckled. “ **_Atarashi and Kariya are probably the only Reapers that we have that aren’t looking to erase the two of us to take our ranks.”_ ** He shook his head. “ **_Not that there’s anyone around right now that_ ** **_actually_ ** **_poses a threat. Still, basic precaution.”_ **

 

“Ooh!” The girl was jumping up and down. She looked over to Neku. “What’s he saying?” 

 

“Ah, um…” Neku looked to Josh. “He’s talking about precautions. Saying that you’re  trustworthy.”

 

Atarashi beamed. “Really!?” Then she seemed to remember something, and her smile shrank a little. She looked at him. “Still… One of the biggest things of working in the UG-” She crossed her arms, trying to look stern. “Don’t, like, let your guard down, okay? For anyone. Especially people who seem trustworthy.”

 

That sounded ominous. “What happened to ‘Trust your partners?’” Neku’s eyes roamed towards Josh. “Aren’t we on the same team now?”

 

“That too.” She nodded. “One or the other is okay on its own,” She pressed her fingers together. “But both is best!”

 

“Anyways...” She sang, leaning dangerously onto the toes of one foot before flopping over onto Neku's shoulder. “Here’s the 411…”

 

Coco launched into a spiel of information on the next week’s players. This afternoon, they were to determine the most effective entry fees for each player and how to incorporate them. Out of the 26 players who had qualified or would qualify to play in the coming week, only 4 of them had entry fees that weren’t enforced by the sheer fact that they were dead. 

 

“Yup!” Coco said, when Neku commented on it. “With a lot of people, it’s things like ‘my job,’ ‘my car,’ ‘my home…’ Ya don’t exactly get to keep that kind of stuff when you kick it.” She put a finger to her mouth. “Or it’s their loved ones, which we can just say that we took.” She winked at Neku. “We can’t mess with the RG  _ that  _ much, but the Players don’t know that.” 

 

She stretched out, sprawling onto one of the colorful beanbags that had appeared in the Pad overnight. Apparently, as Conductor, this room was going to start changing to reflect his tastes. Right now, the puffy chairs and a comfortably ugly rug were the worst of it, but Neku was silently begging whatever force was in charge of the UG’s weirdness-

 

**_“Hi there.”_ **

 

-that nothing too embarrassing would show up in the areas under his influence. 

 

Coco puffed out a cheek. “Anyways, we call Players with easy entry fees like that ‘erasure-bait.’” She shook her head. “It takes a strong sense of identity to make it here, and being that attached to things in the RG, and having that attachment severed… They won’t make it through the first day.” she shrugged, making a face. “They just have to reincarnate and try again, I guess.” She held up a finger. “Although there are some who’ll do really-really-reaaally well. It’s just rare.”

 

“And what about the others?”

 

The small girl clapped her hands together. “Oh…! We’ve got a good batch!” She looked down, a little tense, “Although there’s one…”

 

The four remaining Players had entry fees that Joshua himself would have to take. One was a college grad, who had jumped off of a roof after trying and failing and trying and failing to find work, feeling like a burden on his family in the meanwhile. They’d be taking his ‘hope for the future.’

 

The next one was a 17-year-old girl who would die that afternoon from complications caused by undiagnosed cancer. Her entry fee would be her ability to keep her thoughts to herself. Since players couldn’t be scanned, Joshua was just going to make it so that she’d have to say everything she thought.

 

Player 3 was a high-school athlete, who’d be losing his ability to win a game. Yikes. 

 

And the last one… Neku could see why Atarashi was a little put off. The last one was fucking five. 

 

“It’s just…” Coco looked really disturbed. “Kids die, yeah. But, I don’t know if they automatically reincarnate or what, but they don’t usually qualify for a Game.” She bit her lip. “Heck,  _ I _ was the youngest anyone’s seen in a while, and I died four-” she shook her head “no wait, five, years ago.” She slumped over. 

 

“And his entry fee?” Neku couldn’t think of what a kid that young would care about.

 

Coco grimaced. “I feel like we’re shooting a puppy on this one.” She sighed. “It’s his parents’ happiness. Good God…” Yeah, that made Neku feel a little bit sick too.

 

**_“Believe it or not, there is a precedent for cases like this. Neku, since we’re still lacking a Producer, you’ll keep an eye on that one personally. Provided he makes it through Day One, that is.”_ **

 

“Hey, by the way… I’m kinda curious.” Coco looked over at him. “What was your entry fee when you played?” She looked him up and down. “I mean, I can tell that you lost  _ something  _ for good _.  _ Most of us have. But what?”

 

Neku cringed. Wasn’t that a bit personal? Still, he didn’t have anything to lose by talking about it. Heck, it was probably a regular ‘get to know you’ type conversation for Reapers. “Um…? The first time was-”

 

“Memories, I know.” She winked at him. “I was there for that one, but then Kitanji got totally weirded out on you and made ya keep playing.” She stopped to blow a stray piece of hair out of her face.

 

“Yeah, he took Shiki, um… my partner from the first Game, the second time. All of the other players the third.”

 

“And after that?” Yeah, Neku didn’t know why, but she was totally fishing for something. “You won against the Conductor, got his seat, and lost a Game against the Composer.” She waved towards Josh’s general direction. “What did you lose?”

 

“I… honestly don’t know.” What would he have cared about most in that moment? “Am I really missing something?” He looked over to Josh, who was watching the conversation with an unreadable expression.

 

Coco nodded. “Yup. Your soul’s still all frazzled by the loss, but I’m sure you’ll adjust eventually.”

 

The reaper looked at him expectantly.

 

“ **_Neku, dear. Generally when you’re trying to make friends, you ask_ ** **_them_ ** **_questions too. At least let them think that you want to get to know them”_ **

 

Neku sputtered, “A-um…” He scratched the back of his head feeling like human trash. “And what about you?”

 

“Oh, I won the Game when I played.” Coco grinned. “My entry fee was the ability to stick out.” Conspiratorially, she leaned in. “My partner, like, didn’t even notice me until Day Three. It was a blast!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, there are going to be OC's. No, this story's not going to start being about them.


	4. Chapter 4

Once preparations were complete, they ended up chatting a little bit longer, deciding to hit Sunshine Burger before going their separate ways. Atarashi had seemed cringe-worthily cutesy at first, but Neku found that for all of her flouncing and flourishes, she didn’t pretend to be clumsy or helpless like most of the girly-girls that he knew. Even if she was a bit… grating, he could at least respect her.

 

Besides, she had raised an important question, something that he hadn’t stopped to think about since he woke up in the Scramble that last time. What had he lost?

 

He looked down at his phone. It had been a while since he had seen Shiki or Beat in person, but he  _ had  _ seen them since the Game. Joshua too.

 

What could have been most important to him in that last minute? What had he lost forever?

 

He had already lost a lot for good, no Games necessary. His family. His home. His closest friend. And now, he was even set to lose his life. 

 

So what  _ did _ he have to lose there? His memories were still intact, along with his friends. He couldn't think of anything besides his partners that he could have lost. If it was important, he’d notice that it was gone, right?

 

_ Buzz Buzz _

 

He fished a hand into his pocket to grab the vibrating phone. A text from Shiki. After their first meeting, Rhyme had set up a group chat for the four of them. It wasn't exactly ‘lit,’ (because really, the only thing they had in common was dying, playing the Game, and being partnered with him) but it seemed that all of them were short enough on friends to want to spend time in Shibuya with each other. 

 

Well, it wasn't a bad thing… Neku was pretty sour by default, but being around them was a lot more fun than wandering Shibuya alone. As hesitant as he was to use the term, he was getting to the point where he could think of Shiki, Beat, and even Rhyme as friends. Not Eri though. Never Eri.

 

[PrincessPiggy: We need a model. Short notice. -.- Are you free anytime soon? 

 

Sakuraba_Neku: No

 

PrincessPiggy: Is that a ‘No I won't model’ or a ‘No I’m not free?’

 

Sakuraba_Neku: Yes

 

PrincessPiggy: Neku! 

 

PrincessPiggy: Would mentioning that there's free food involved make your schedule clearer?

 

Sakuraba_Neku: Maybe.

 

Sakuraba_Neku: It'll depend on when you're doing it, and when someone else needs to call me in for something I already promised to do for them. 

 

Sakuraba_Neku: You wouldn't have to feed a mannequin, you know.

 

PrincessPiggy: It's not the same! Mannequins can't move around in the clothes and check for weird issues there. 

 

PrincessPiggy: Don't worry. It's just a couple of costumes, not high fashion. 

 

Sakuraba_Neku: Costumes?

 

PrincessPiggy: Our class’s contribution to the school festival is a theme café. Nobody could agree on what theme, though, so we thought ‘Why not all of them?’

 

Sakuraba_Neku: And you can't use your classmates because…?

 

PrincessPiggy: That’d involve catching them after school. The ‘going-home’ club has zero members in our class. 

 

Sakuraba_Neku: Gross.

 

Sakuraba_Neku: I’ll let you know when I’m free. It'll probably be late afternoon or short-notice, though.

 

PrincessPiggy: You're the best! 

 

Sakuraba_Neku: K]

 

Neku snorted and put his phone away, curling into the several thin blankets that he had picked up at the convenience store on his way to the former cafe. He had found a sleeping mat under a heap of Mr. H’s junk, and had arranged it and the blankets into a somewhat comfortable nest in the corner. 

 

Now he just had to sleep. 

 

* * *

 

 

Or, more realistically, spend the night staring at the ceiling. A few short days from now, his first Game as Conductor would begin. Did that make him a reaper? He wasn't dead, and didn't have wings, but he could interact with the UG and scan without a Player Pin. 

 

Neku rolled over, struggling with the blanket to make sure that his feet were covered. It was another thing to ask Josh about, now that he knew he could at least get some straight answers out of the man.

 

Now that he thought about it, Reapers were sort of Players too, meeting a point quota however they could to survive from one Game to the next. What made it worse, was that the Games were normally spaced so far apart. If a Reaper didn't have enough points to make it to the next one... Still, those points were  _ people. _ Dead people, though, who’d be reincarnated into new lives upon erasure, instead of whatever the hell happened to people who Ascended. It's not like they’d be  _ worse _ off.

 

He huffed, turning his face into the pillow. Now that he knew what the Game was for, it was a lot harder to know who the ‘bad guys’ were. Not that he couldn't stomach being the bad guy, when he had to. He had almost erased Shiki, after all, before he had gotten to know her. And it wasn't like he hadn't killed any of his friends before...

 

If Gin were here, what would he say? 

 

Neku bit back a laugh. In spite of his friend passing half a year ago now, he was still quite present in Neku’s memory. Neku could clearly imagine the brunette’s easygoing grin, as he’d give Neku the advice that he could, while trying to get their minds off of their own problems.

 

_ You shouldn't sweat the things you can't change so much. Just... Deal with what's in front of you.  _ He’d remark, indiscriminately brushing his and Neku’s issues aside. On one occasion, a particularly frustrated Neku had called him out on it.

 

“Isn't that just giving up?” He yelled across the field, kicking a ball towards the goal that Gin was guarding. Gin was the only other scholarship student at the school this year, and someone that Neku would sometimes see at the orphanage, though the older boy's athletics, grades, and cheerful attitude led to more people wanting to foster him. At the time, they were in the same home. The school's head soccer coach and his wife had decided to try fostering. Upon seeing Neku and Gin playing soccer in the lot behind the orphanage, the man had completely forgone a further interview and decided that he and his wife would foster then both.

 

“What do you mean?” Gin frowned at him as he half-heartedly swatted Neku’s shot from the air.

 

Neku trotted over, spinning the ball around and preparing another shot. “Like how when people say ‘You do you’ they're basically saying ‘I can't bring myself to care what you do?’” Again, he kicked the ball at Gin.

 

Gin caught the ball between gloved hands, and began bouncing the checkered sphere on his knee. The two boys were pushed so hard in practice and games that the only chances they’d get to actually  _ play _ were limited to fooling around after practice while they waited for the coach to be ready to go home. “Seriously!?” The boy panted, irritation creeping into his voice, before kicking the ball Neku’s way. “It's the opposite.” Gin shook his head, sweaty strands of grey-brown hair spinning around it. “I swear man, you’ve gotta lighten up a little. You're talking like the entire world is out to get’cha.” He smirked. “It  _ is,  _ by the way. But it's rude to point it out. It's not like things are openly malicious.”

 

He caught the ball, propping it under his arm, and signaling that they were done for the day. “In general, people just aren't gonna care about what you're dealing with.” Gin gave Neku a shaky grin. “They're too busy with what they're dealing with, and knowing that someone has a bigger problem is just gonna make them want to ignore it.”

 

Remembering this conversation… It made Neku cringe at how stupid he was, not to catch the words behind what his friend was saying. 

 

Just…  _ Why? _

 

Noticing that he was starting to cry, Neku took a deep, shaky breath, trying to shut the line of thought down. He rolled over, jamming his face into the pillow. 

 

* * *

 

The next few days passed in a flurry. Between school and Game duties, Neku had begun cleaning up the former café, and making the space his own. Joshua had explained that Neku was going to keep an eye on the Game by running a Player-only shop near the mural that actively drew imaginative Players. 

 

“You’ll have to begin designing psychs and a draw-point of your own eventually, of course. But after this Game, Shibuya’s doing well enough that we might have to space them out a bit more, so you can tackle that later.”

 

Neku frowned at hearing this. He had…zero artistic ability, and was probably going to disappoint the man here. “Wasn't this Mr. H’s job?”

 

Joshua sighed, obviously put out at having to explain. “Mr. H, was Producer. People like him are only assigned to a Game when it's in serious danger of collapsing.” Though Neku had to squint to see, he caught the man’s face going unusually grim. “The Composer before me left the city in  _ quite _ a state, bad enough for Sanae to be called in. When I took over, I didn't have a clue how to begin fixing things.”

 

He turned to Neku with a wry grin. “It certainly didn't help things when Megumi came in and erased my partner.”

 

Unspoken went the thought that Mr. H was all that Joshua, invisible to everyone else, had after that. And now the man was gone. 

 

Joshua frowned, and Neku imagined that he was thinking that he had said too much. Now that Joshua was actually talking to him, instead of egging him on and brushing him off, Neku found the man growing on him. Like a rash. 

 

The man shifted uncomfortably, probably picking up on Neku’s thoughts. “ _ Anyways _ , I couldn't really trust Megumi with a lot of the game's details after that.” He snorted. “You saw what he did when he messed with  _ one  _ Pin, after all. The man just doesn't… didn't believe in individuality, aside from his own.” He shook his head, as if to derail the train of thought. “So Mr. H took over a lot of the hands-on tasks, which I'm entrusting to you. You're plugged into the city now, so you’ll have an easier time picking up how to design things.”

 

Aside from the pins and gear that Neku was going to have available this week, and the supplies for the bento that he was going to make (He found light and portable foods the best for fighting. Besides, he didn't exactly know how to work with a stove yet.) Mr. H.’s things were steadily retreating into boxes, neatly pushed into the man’s closet. Neku didn't quite know what to do with them, but throwing or giving the man’s things away didn't feel like an option. 

 

The Game did take up a lot of his time, but, as Conductor, he wasn’t as involved as he thought he would have been. He was required to manage the Game’s preparations and clean-up, deal with unforeseen emergencies, act as a go-between for the Composer, and, in the absence of a Producer, write reports on Players who were especially abnormal or interesting. Everything aside from that was up to him.

 

The first thing Neku did to take advantage of his position, to Pinkie’s displeasure, was reshape the shark Noise she and some other Harriers had been setting traps, like the one that had erased Rhyme, with. It was a lazy, underhanded, and, according to a couple of bystanding Wall Reapers, an overused trick. Reapers should have to work just a little bit harder to earn points.

 

Well… those were the ‘official’ reasons for the redesign anyways. Joshua had seen through them instantly, giving him a knowing smirk, along with a warning not to alienate the Harriers too much. 

 

“Well…” Neku scowled, trying to think of a solution. “What if we recoded the Noise as something more obvious, yeah, but maybe a bit more powerful to make up for it?”

 

“Hm…” The man shot him an unreadable gaze, and for a second, Neku though he would disagree. A couple beats passed in silence before he nodded. “I suppose that could work, but our sharks were high-level Noise to begin with.” Joshua placed a hand to his chin. “The Reapers who have them had to work incredibly hard to capture and tame them. They definitely won't appreciate you messing with the design unless you can present it as an advantage.”

 

“Well, what about this?” Neku pulled out a sketchbook. He wasn't the best at drawing, but at least the design and suggestions were understandable. He had taken the shark design and repurposed it into a dolphin. Even unsummoned, the Noise would trill to announce its presence, and in battle, Neku had given it a few interesting attacks in order to make up for the absence of sharp teeth. The dolphin’s song, when completed, would serve as not only a psych, but a psychic attack, casting an illusion to seriously confuse and disorient the target until either their Partner defeated the Noise, or they broke out on their own.

 

“Inducing nightmares, huh…” Joshua side-eyed Neku. “A powerful Noise, and an interesting way to force Players to confront their issues.” Tuning down, he clapped his hands together, before grabbing one of Neku’s. “Let's test it out!”

 

Neku sprung back as Joshua summoned a purple creature, with bright coloring and swirling lines. It was definitely his Noise, but the Tribal designing he was used to had changed, becoming… he supposed ‘gentler’ was the word for it. If the other Noise were based off of Mr. H’s graffiti designs, this one seemed to adopt a design reminiscent of calligraphy and watercolor, like it had stepped out of a Shinto illustration. Immediately upon contact with the Noise, the two were pulled into the Noise zone.

 

Frantically, Neku looked around. The area he had appeared in was empty, but he knew that the Noise could still submerge itself to avoid attacks. He raised his arms, ready to block. 

 

_ I’m going to hold back up here. Go ahead and check out its range of attacks. _

 

“You shouldn't let it sing to you then.” Neku said, knowing Joshua would pick him up through their Pact. The dreams and nightmares that the Noise could induce were sure to dust off the skeletons in anyone's closet, and as little as Neku knew about Josh, he could be sure that his partner had plenty. Plus, they didn’t want to risk destabilizing Shibuya itself by shaking up its already unstable Composer.

 

_ Got it. You can test out the illusions then. _

 

Neku nodded, reaching for one of the Pins on his schoolbag. A straightforward fire attack that he had leveled over three weeks of the Game. The flames were generally enough to toast most low-level Noise within the first hit, and would wear down even a Taboo Noise if Neku held the psych long enough. 

 

Focusing on the pin, Neku reached in, summoning… nothing. He was knocked breathless into the wall as a tail slammed into him. 

 

He took another hit, yelling as the fish knocked him into the air. Quickly, Neku managed to scramble to his feet and out of the way of the fish’s follow up attack. 

 

_ You took a hard hit. _ Joshua remarked, sending greenish energy his way.  _ What's going on? _

 

“I tried one of my Psychs.” Neku grabbed another Pin, a slashing Psych, and darted towards the fish to strike. Nothing happened, save for his fist ineffectively hitting the Noise in the side. “Two of my Psychs. They aren't working.” 

 

_ Of course they aren't. You're not a Player anymore.  _

 

Neku projected his confusion to Joshua. The fish began to sing, and he took a chance, rushing a kick into its mouth to get it to stop. He needed answers before he took a chance with a Noise he apparently couldn’t fight.

 

_ Pins are basically ‘training-wheels’ for channeling Imagination and Spiritual energy into effective forms. A lot of Reapers don't really manage without them and end up just using Noise and their own Noise forms instead, but you took to Psychs like a…  _ Neku heard him giggle breathlessly  _ ‘fish to water.’ Don't think about it too much, and just see what you can use your own energy to create. _

 

Neku growled, glaring at the dolphin. Why had he thought that this was going to be simple? Kicking off of the zone’s boundaries, he charged, throwing a punch he imagined would be backed up by a striking psych, towards the dolphin. The hit landed, taking about an eighth of the Noise’s energy, and he followed with a blast of lightning, before taking a breath and glowing with green energy. 

 

“Okay… I think I’ve got it.” Neku told his partner, slightly irritated. Couldn’t he have told him this  _ sooner? _   Neku scowled. He could only imagine what would have happened if one of the Reapers had come gunning for him. He growled under his breath before shaking his head. “I think we’ve seen all of its basic attacks. I’m going to try and trigger the illusion now. Wipe it out for me if it starts landing hits?”

 

_ Hmm… Maybe. _

 

“Josh.” Now wasn’t the time for a joke like that.

 

_ I’m only kidding, dear.  _ Neku could almost hear that infuriating giggle.  _ It’d be a shame to lose my Conductor so soon. I’ll be here. _

 

Neku nodded, backing away from the dolphin. Once he heard the song, it’d be up to Josh to take out the Noise… Anxiety crawled into his chest at the thought. Did he have to joke like that?  He inhaled slowly, as if the deep breath would push away the jitters that had sprung him without warning. 

 

Joshua had had plenty of chances to stab him in the back, and he had even taken a few of them, before changing his mind and fixing things. The reality was, if Joshua wanted to get rid of him, he could. Easily. Without his friends on the line, Neku probably wouldn't even put up a fight. 

 

He shook his head, trying to de-angst. He couldn’t afford to be thinking like that. The dolphin began trilling…

 

* * *

 

 

Joshua sighed, dodging around the Noise. Replacing the sharks… as much as Neku had tried to pretend otherwise, there was no way he’d believe that that wasn't personal. The blonde stuck his hands in his pockets. Still… this Noise was quite a good substitute, design-wise. The Harriers might not even be upset. The fact that Neku had coded such a sturdy Noise was a testament to his new understanding of the Game. Normally, newer Reapers would hesitate to attack Players, and even get erased doing so. 

 

Once Neku checked out the illusion effect, they could fine-tune the creature to avoid game-breaking use of the skill. 

 

Neku… Joshua stilled, as he felt their sync rate continue to spiral downwards. Even after 3 games, the boy was so unstable… It wasn’t  _ completely _ his own fault, of course, but the revelations of the third week had almost undone all of the progress the kid had made. Not to mention his entry fee...  He was shaken from his thoughts as he was hit with a wave of guilt and grief strong enough to make him pause. Their shared health was dropping as well as the Noise capitalized on its incapacitated opponent.

 

“Neku dear...You're in the dream, I believe. Can you shake it off?” Their sync rate was so low that he had to stop and wonder if his partner could even hear him.

 

He was relieved to feel Neku stir.  _...yeah. The illusion’s exactly what I expected. It’s easy enough to shake off once you notice the giant fucking dolphin coming to kill you.  _

 

Joshua briefly glowed green as his partner healed them. 

 

_ I think I’ve got what we need. Can we just kill this thing now? _

 

With a snap of his fingers, bright light engulfed and erased the Noise. As they left the Noise zone, Joshua spotted his partner.

 

His Conductor looked worse for wear. Though he wasn't a Reaper, and thus, didn't have wings to channel it through, Neku’s inner Noise had partially surfaced, in the form of a few swirling lines spreading down his arms, probably out from his chest. The boy stumbled, dropping to his hands and knees and gagging. The illusion had definitely caught him off guard.

 

Reaching for his Soul, which had been greatly destabilized by whatever he had seen in the nightmare, Joshua began pulling the boy back into Tune. Eventually, the Noise receded, and Neku shakily stood up. Joshua refrained from asking if he was okay.

 

Eventually, Neku began to speak on his own. Probably to shake off the silence that had engulfed the Pad. “So… the illusion is more of a jumpscare than anything. It just tries to distract you with something horrifying.” He shook his head. “If we showed it to a Player who hadn’t seen anything awful before, I dunno… Maybe it’d throw something else at them.”

 

“Like…”

 

He shrugged. “Clowns, spiders... their grandparents having sex?" Startled by the crude humor, Joshua laughed, and even Neku managed a shaky grin. "I don’t really know… Basic jumpscares, I’m sure.”

 

Joshua hummed, briefly scanning over his partner’s thoughts. Seeing that he didn’t wish to talk about what he had seen, (and really, Joshua could only make something like that  _ worse) _ the Composer decided to skip to business. “Can you redesign it into something based off of a land mammal?” He grinned. “A horse, maybe? It’s a little heavy-handed to give one enemy both illusions and an underwater advantage.”

 

The teen shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”

 

The room was quiet for a few beats before Joshua sighed, swiping a hand through his hair. “Alright, have that designed by Day Two. We’ll introduce it along with the higher-level Noise once the erasure-bait is dealt with. Other than that, I think we’re done for the day.”

 

As he turned to head to the throne-room, he saw Neku reach out, slightly, a slew of questions passing through his thoughts. He always had questions. It was understandable, even necessary, but unless the teen got himself erased, which, even with his human status, and as inexperienced as he was, was incredibly unlikely at his level, he had plenty of time to learn… And plenty of time for the mystery to wear off, rendering the UG as bland and repetitive as the living world. Joshua shook his head. He had to try and make a conscious effort not to think that way. As thin as he was wearing, this generation of Shibuya deserved as much of a chance as the ones that had come and gone before it. 

 

Without turning, he waved his hand over his shoulder. “I’ll be here tomorrow...Why don’t you take the afternoon to drop in on your friends?” The fact that he wouldn’t be able to for long passed silently between them.

 

A beat passed, and Neku hesitantly nodded. He opened his mouth, closed it to scowl, and then opened it again. “Can I tell the others about this?”

 

Joshua frowned, crossing his arms. It was sweet that, final entry fee aside, Neku was still trying to take Sanae’s ‘Trust your partner’ nonsense seriously. But that conversation wasn’t going to go well. “That’s...not the best idea.”

 

Neku looked suspicious so Joshua shook his head and continued. “They’ve played and won, and it’s your choice if you want to tell them or not.” But would knowing  _ help _ ? Joshua wanted to ask. He wouldn’t, though. Giving difficult advice like this was a fool’s task.

 

Neku’s eyes were wide, and he seemed to be staring at something thousands of miles away. “Oh, okay.” He looked almost disappointed that he wasn’t being told to keep it secret. Of course he’d be, now that the decision was in  _ his  _ hands, it’d be up to him to make the decisions that would hurt his friends in whatever way he made them.

 

It took some time, but the kid stood up a little straighter, a decision clearly made. He turned to leave, then stopped, stiffening. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

 

It was never a simple goodbye with this one. Always the same question, and no matter how many times he had asked it, it never sounded less serious. It was understandable, though. “Of course. With our next Game so close, we’ll have plenty to go over. But, yes.. Tomorrow.”

 

The boy ducked his head, and, to Joshua's surprise, waved at him on the way out.


End file.
